Wednesday, 5 September 2012

Neither Murcia nor (many) Birds!

You may
have noticed that I have not been making any blog entries for a while; this is
because I have been on holiday for a couple of weeks, and this is a summary of
that holiday.

When some
birdwatching friends of mine, Inés and Antonio (Cuco) suggested a holiday to
the north of Spain,
it didn’t take too long to agree.With
work being very quiet at this time of the year, the idea of going to places
much cooler than the 36º plus that we’ve been experiencing of late around the
Mar Menor, 25º at night and high humidity, a trip to see places and possibly
birds that I’ve never seen before in Spain seemed a very good prospect.And to include with this some of the rare
mammals, and different food and drink, you can understand the attraction!

In actual
fact, this blog entry is a roundup/diary of the holiday, complete with holiday
snaps, so sorry if it seems long-winded, but it does cover a 12 day trip.Also, my apologies if some of our activities
upset the sensitivity of any vegetarians who may be reading!

Day 1 – 20th
August 2012 - Los Belones to Viana de Cega (Valladolid)

Cuco and Inés picked me and my luggage up from home at
2pm, and we set off, through Murcia, Albacete, around Madrid and onto the main
A-6 ‘Autovia del Noroeste’ north towards Valladolid, arriving at the village
(Viana de Cega) of another friend (Juan) around 8-30p.m.One of the reasons for stopping there apart
from seeing Juan, was that it was the last night of the week-long fiestas of
the village, after which the village would be going into shut-down, recovering
from the fiestas.

Although we didn’t stop for any birdwatching, en route
in the car we did see Black Kite, more than 10 Common Buzzards, a single Honey
Buzzard, a Booted Eagle and 2 groups of Great Bustard, one of 15 birds in Albacete province, the other of 12 between Madrid and Valladolid.

Day 2 – 21st
August 2012 - Viana de Cega / Peñafiel (Valladolid)

After a late night, I woke up fairly early and without
headache, and while waiting for Inés and Cuco to get up, sat with my binoculars
in the garden of the chalet we were staying in (a friend of Juans had
volunteered it).Here between 8 and 9-30
a.m. I had Willow Warbler, Coal Tit, Short-toed Treecreeper, Common Redstart,
Blackbird, Spotless Starling, Collared Dove, House Sparrow, Swallow, at least 2
Azure Winged Magpies, a single Booted Eagle (light phase) and a group of 5
Night Herons flew over.Best of all, the
temperature was a cool 23º!

After everyone was awake and we’d had breakfast, we
went across country to a village called Peñafiel where we were to have lunch,
calling in to another village en route for elevenses and beer.I personally am not much of one for buildings
and architecture, but the bullring/square in Peñafiel was quite something.The square looked like some old Tudor town square
with all the wooden terraces, and all overlooked by a very impressive
castle.Apparently the square is one of
the oldest in Spain.

Part of the crew, in front of the church

Us again, in the town square

Another of the square and bullring

The castle overlooking the town

The lunch itself was quite simple, a salad with roast
suckling calf and local wine.The food
and wine was organised by one of the group who works in one of the local
bodegas (the Ribera del Duero) and can only be described as EXCELLENT.The location was also simple but unique – a
room in an old house with a wooden table and wooden bench seats, and if you got
too hot, you could always go into the house’s own bodega – a tunnel driven into
the hill behind the house, at least 50 metres long and with small rooms off it,
all kept at 15º both winter and summer by the air passing through the
tunnel.15º may seem a lot, but compared
to the midday outside temperature of over 30º, it felt like a fridge.

The Bodega of the house

Lunch!

The rest of the day was just spent sampling the many
different bars, both in Peñafiel and then back at Viana de Cega.

We said goodbye to Viana de Cega about 8-30 a.m., and
set off once again up the A-6 autovia.Just outside León itself on the AP-66 at around 10-30, on a pitstop for
diesel and other necessities, over a field opposite the petrol station we noted
a group of 16 Lesser Kestrels, and 6 Common Buzzards.

Our next destination was the Pico La Mesa, Puerto de
la Cubilla, on the Leon/Asturias border, a very high area where we hope to get
some alpine species.We came off the
AP-66 near to the reservoir ‘Embalse de Barrios de Luna’.Having crossed over the suspension bridge
there and climbing up the hill towards Roblada de Caldas, I noticed at the side
of the road a shrike that just didn’t seem like the shrikes we see down south
(Woodchat and Southern Grey), so we stopped for a look, and sure enough, it was
a male Red-backed.Slightly further up
the road was another, and in surrounding fields we spotted at least 2 Tree
Pipits and a couple of Whinchat.Although I know nothing about the area, I suspect they were birds on
migration, as to me it seems strange that two adult male Red-backed Shrikes
would tolerate being so close together if in their breeding territory.Also there were Crag Martins, Mistle Thrush,
Green Woodpecker, Chaffinch, Black Redstart, Blue Tit, House Sparrows, Magpies
and White Wagtails.We continued on to
Roblada de Caldas, but when we got there we found that we couldn’t drive all
the way to the Puerto de la Cubilla – we would have to leave the car and make a
2 hour walking trek each way to get there.As time was tight and we still had quite a way to go anyway, we decided
against it, hoping that one of the other sites for alpine birds might be
easier.

Getting back on the CL-626, at around the km.37
marker, we crossed a river where we noted a couple of White Stork, as well as
Southern Grey Shrike, Green Woodpecker, Kestrel and Common Buzzards.

We turned off the CL-626, taking the LE-495 into the
Parque Natural de Somiedo (Asturias), and in the park we had 3 Short-toed
Eagles, Common Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Peregrine Falcon, Common Kestrel,
Goldfinch, Linnet and White Wagtail.Stopping at Pola de Somiedo (the main town in the park), we picked up
some maps and directions as to where to go from the information centre.We decided not to do any birding there that
day, as it was by now time for lunch and we wanted to get on to our next
lodging place.We therefore took a rapid
lunch in Pola de Somiedo and came out of the park, got back on the CL-626,
passed through Villablino and went on to Caboalles de Abajo which was to be our
base for the next couple of nights.After unloading all our bags at the hostel, we had a drive around,
further along the CL-626, calling in at the ‘Centro del Urogallo’ or
Capercaille Centre in Caboalles de Arriba where we had Serin, Garden Warbler
and Stonechat, and also up the LE-497 which on crossing the border again into Asturias,
becomes the AS-213.Here we spent a few
hours looking for our next target species, Brown Bear, but without success.

View over the Somiedo Natural Park

The nearest we got to Capercaille - this plastic one in the 'Capercaille Centre'!

We spent the morning travelling around the Parque
Natural de las Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña y Ibias with the hope of getting Woodland birds such as Black Woodpecker, but the weather
was very much against us, being very misty, so apart from not seeing much,
birds weren’t calling either.We did
however come across (and almost run over) a Roe Deer.

Typical landscape in the P.N. Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña y Ibias

After lunch, and after continuing our tour, we decided
to have another look at the LE497/AS213.This is a mountainous area, and we pulled off the road onto one of the
few lay-by areas.Behind us, we had up
to 12 Common Buzzards hunting, some hovering, others just quartering the area,
and also a female or immature Hen Harrier, and 4 or more Common Kestrels.In the valley below in front of us was a
large group of Chaffinches, and a surprise, 2 Yellowhammer.Also around the area were a couple of Chough,
2 Ravens and 2 Great Tits.

On top of the hills/mountains in front of us were at
least 11 Southern Chamois.We could see
a small run down village or farm some way off, and there were people there with
telescopes scanning the mountain in front of us, but try as we may, we couldn’t
see anything on the mountain.It was
starting to get late and just as we were starting to get despondent, a vehicle
pulled up a little way off and out got 3 people with bins and scopes.They hadn’t been set up 5 minutes when one of
them asked if we’d had any luck with the bears.We said no, and he said he was watching one at that moment!It took a while, but he got us all on the
bear, which was much higher up the mountain than we’d been looking, in the
screed area.But we all got it!!And we must have watched it for about 15
minutes in total.What a good one to get
in the bag.We had more than one glass
of wine with supper that night!

Searching for Bears

The lower slopes of the valley

And the higher areas showing the screed areas where we eventually saw the Bear

We had a number of Common Buzzards flying around us, including this one that settled

Having got the maps of the P.N. Somiedo a couple of
days previously, we decided to take a look at one of the areas there, the Lagos
de Saliencia.These are a group of five
high glacial lakes, and we had been told that there were Otters in the more
remote ones.We slowly drove up the
mountain road, stopping off at various points to check for birds, but it wasn’t
until we reached a small group of houses almost at the top that I saw our first
birds of note, at least 3 Alpine Chough perched on overhead electric
cables.We made another stop before
reaching the carpark at the top, where we saw more Alpine Chough, heard Common
Chough, saw 2 Golden Eagle, Common Buzzard, 11 Griffon Vultures, 2 Kestrels, 2
Blackcap and surprisingly, a Tree Pipit that landed in a small tree in front of
us and was preening itself for around four minutes, giving us excellent views.

View through the valley, across the Natural Park

Up at the carpark, we had a female or immature male
Montagu’s Harrier, and walking down to the first lake we had around 8 Black
Redstart including a well grown young bird still being fed by its parent, and a
couple of Rock Buntings.Further down
the track we came across a young male Rock Thrush.The first lake itself had no life in it, but
a Common Buzzard did come down and perch on a rock at the side of it.

The first of the 'Lagos de Saliencia'

Partway back down we stopped for a beer, to be followed by this cow!

Due to time constraints, we decided not to go on to
the further lakes as it involved a lot of climbing (although not difficult
climbs, they were a fair way off), and it was getting hot (around 25º), and we
were getting hungry!

Stopping off en route at a bar for a quick drink (and
being followed in by a cow), we went back to Pola de Somiedo for a late
lunch.Then off again to our next
overnight stopping point, Rinlo, on the Cantabrian coast in Lugo, Galicia.

The coastal town of Rinlo, taken from the harbour

In the late afternoon, a walk around the harbour at
Rinlo produced a couple of Common Sandpipers, 14 Turnstone, a single
Sanderling, plus ‘flava’ Wagtails, a Black Redstart and Stonechat.

After a walk around the picturesque beach ‘Playa de
los Catedrales’ (rock formations with narrow channels between them which people
say are like cathedral naves), seeing Wrens, Common Whitethroats, Black
Redstarts, single Fan-tailed Warblers and Common Swift, and a single adult
Common Gull, we carried on along the north coast into Galicia, arriving at
midday, and booked in for a few nights at a hostel in O Vicedo (Lugo).We had a quick lunch and then went up to the
‘Estaca de Bares’, probably the most
famous sea-watching site on the Spanish peninsula.

Driving up to the seawatching station, we had a Common
Buzzard hunting, hanging on the wind like a Kestrel.At the seawatch site there were already
several people with scopes set up, so we set ourselves up for the afternoon
session.The height of the cliffs there
are about twice the height of those that I am used to at Cabo de Palos, and due
to this you can see a lot further.However, a lot of the birds were passing quite a long way out, and high
magnification was needed a lot of the time.The conditions were fairly calm, with a NW wind force 2-3, and as you
are looking north, light conditions were excellent, and the list of birds seen
when we finished at around 9pm was quite impressive; 17 Great Skua; 29 Pom.
Skua, mainly adults, light phase with full spoons; 8 Arctic Skua; 5 Sooty
Shearwater; Herring Gull; Lesser Black-backed Gull; Sandwich Terns; Comic
Terns; 1 Arctic Tern (flying with a group of Comic Terns, but flying much
lighter and with full long tail feathers); Ringed Plover; Grey Plover; around
2,000 Cory’s Shearwater; around 3,000 Manx Shearwater, at least 30 Balearic
Shearwater; 1,000 + Gannet.Other birds
seen were a female Sparrowhawk flying around the rocks, a single Stonechat, and
3 Shag on an offshore islet, but we did miss up to 5 Long-tailed Skuas!

As you enter onto the peninsula at Estaca de Bares, there always seemed to be Buzzards hanging in the wind

General view from Estaca de Bares over the Cantabrian Sea

The 'Estaca de Bares' bird observatory

Day 7– 26th
August 2012 – Estaca de Bares (A Coruña)

Today we spent more or less the whole day at Estaca de
Bares, in 2 sessions, one from 9-20 to 13-30, then after a late lunch back to
Estaca de Bares for a quick siesta and then seawatching again from 17-15 to
21-00.The movement of birds seen was
not so spectacular as yesterday, with lighter easterly winds in the morning,
and ENE in the afternoon session.Neither were there as many people seawatching in the morning, but
apparently this was because the majority of the ‘regulars’ had gone out on a
boat trip, where apart from seeing all the seabirds we had seen yesterday, they
also had a sighting of a petrel close enough to be able to identify it as Fea’s
Petrel as opposed to Zino’s Petrel (getting all the facial and bill details),
which if accepted will be the first for Spain, although there have been several
generic ‘pterodroma’ petrels seen over the last few years!

Differences to yesterday’s birds were fewer Pom. Skuas
(4 in the morning and 8 in the afternoon) but much more Arctic Skuas (41 in the
morning and 11 in the afternoon); groups of Oystercatcher (totalling 25 in the
morning and 98 in the afternoon) and a few Black-tailed Godwits and
Whimbrel,and 18 Common Scoter flying
west.We also had a few Common Dolphins
showing themselves far out, but I DIDN’T manage to get onto the few Great
Shearwaters or the single ‘pterodroma’ petrel that was seen!

One of the few birds close enough to be photographed, a Gannet mid-dive

A look around the harbour at O Vicedo where we had
breakfast, gave us Common Sandpiper, Herring Gulls, Yellow-legged Gulls,
Black-headed Gull, Whimbrel and a single adult Greater Black-backed Gull.

In the harbour were both Yellow-legged and Herring Gulls..

...and also a single adult Greater Black-backed Gull

We decided to see how Estaca de Bares was looking
although there was very little wind, so we seawatched there for an hour, but
there was very little different from the previous morning.We decided to go on to the area of
Ortigueira, apparently one of the best areas for waders on the NW coast.While the tide was low, leaving several
sandbanks uncovered, we had 12 Redshank, 14 Little Egrets, 5 Knot, 3 Dunlin, 3
Grey Heron, 12 Cormorant, 20+ Mallard, 7 Bar-tailed Godwit, 11 Sandwich Tern, 5
adult Greater Black-backed Gull, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 2 Mediterranean
Gulls (adults in winter plumage), 200+ Curlew, 100+ Whimbrel and 140
Oystercatcher.

This morning there were two Common Buzzards hanging on the cliff updrafts

We then move on to the Cabo de Ortegal which is the
next cape to the west of Estaca de Bares (also very high), and is known at
Point Zero, where the Cantabrian Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean.

Here we had a picnic lunch, but saw few birds apart
from Yellow-legged Gulls – 8 Gannet, 4 Cory’s Shearwater sat on the water and
around 15 Manx Shearwater.

Returning to Estaca de Bares (having travelled so far
to see the place, we had to make the most of it, even if it was quiet), we did
another afternoon of seawatching.Again
nothing too special to report apart from a group of around 125 plover which I
have down as Golden, we left a bit earlier that on previous days (it was quiet;
we were hungry and rain was on the way), and so we missed another sighting of
pterodroma’ petrel by minutes!

Spending another hour and a half seawatching from
Estaca where once again it was ‘quiet’, and with no prevision of things
improving before Thursday (30th), we decided to move on to our next stop,
looking for Wolves in the Sierra de la Culebra, so we once again headed off in
the car, this time south bypassing Lugo city, on the A-6, and taking the LE-133
and ZA-111 to the A-52 and on to Villardeciervos (Village of Red Deer) where we
were to stay for a couple of nights.

We stopped en route near to Destriana on the Rio
Duerna along a short track to have a picnic lunch, and here we saw a couple of
Booted Eagles, several House Martins, 2 Jays, Great Tit, 2 Long-tailed Tits,
Spotted and 4 Pied Flycatchers, 3 Cirl Buntings and heard a Great Spotted
Woodpecker ‘chipp’ing away.

We booked into the hostel where we were to stay, and
then went out on the search for Wolves.We had two spots to try, and at the first one we found one of the local
guides with a family also looking for wolves.He told us that they had been seen from there the evening before, but in
the morning a local farmer had let his cows into the field, so he didn’t think
they’d be seen there as they don’t like any human interference to their
area.He packed up and went on to
another site where he as lucky, and managed to film a group of 6 pups
playing!We stayed for a while longer
and saw a Wild Boar and 3 Red Deer, a Barn Owl plus several Dartford Warblers
and a couple of Pied Flycatchers, but eventually took the guide’s advice and
went to the other site we had.Here we
were unlucky as it wasn’t the correct site – the correct site was where the
guide had gone, and if we’d gone there, we’d have seen the pups.We finally gave up when it got dark.

Wolves are normally only seen first thing in the
morning or late in the afternoon, so we were up before dawn and back at the
first site we visited yesterday at 7-15 am.It was definitely cold, only 2ºC and as it got light we saw a couple of
Red Deer (male and female) plus the Dartford Warblers and Pied Flycatchers and
a single Hoopoe and a couple of Jays, but little else, so at 9-30 we went on to
the correct second site.We stayed for ¾
of an hour, but there was no sign of any Wolves – we ‘only’ saw around 8
Dartford Warblers, 6 Willow Warblers and 3 Pied Flycatchers, and by 10-15 the
heat-haze was such that it was impossible to see anything at distance.

Commonest bird here was Dartford Warbler

To fill the day, we decided to take a trip via small
villages to the ‘Lago de Sanabria’ stopping off en route at the ‘Lago de
Sanabria’ information centre where we saw Woodlarks in the gardens, and then
stopped at the Puebla de Sanabria, a very pretty town complete with castle,
where we had lunch.

Puebla de Sanabria - town square

Puebla de Sanabria - town square

Puebla de Sanabria - beleive it or not, the Land Registry office!

The castle overlooking the town

And just another building!

We then came back to Villardeciervos where Inés and Cuco had a swim at the beach at the 'Embalse de Valparaiso' just outside of town, while I looked for birds.

One of a few Pied Flycatchers around the beach area...

...together with a few Willow Warblers

Then back to the Wolves for an evening session, once
again without success.As we
had a day free that we hadn't decided what to do with yet, we decided to
stay here for one more night giving us two more sessions
to look for the wolves.

Meanwhile, back at Wolf site number two, still nothing - things are starting to look grim!

Another cold, early start at the 2nd viewing spot, but
without any luck ‘just’ Red and Roe Deer, so we decided to go back to the first
spot, where once again we had no luck, just a Short-toed Eagle flying over, and
a group of three Red Deer, two males and a female, with the males head-butting
each other.Small birds seen were 2
Hoopoe, 2 Pied Flycatcher, 6 Dartford Warblers and 6 Chaffinches.

After breakfast, we spent the rest of the day towards
the south, around the ‘Parque Natural de los Arribes del Duero’ which is a
national park around the River Duero which divides Spain
from Portugal.Most of this river valley consists of sheer
cliffs, very good for raptors and Black Storks.We stopped off at the ‘Embalse de Almendra’ and the ‘Ermita del
Castillo’ near Fariza.At the ‘embalse’
we saw breeding Griffon Vultures, Bee-eaters and Northern Wheatear, and at the
‘Ermita’ more Griffon Vultures, 3 Golden Eagles, a single Bonelli’s Eagle, 6
Golden Orioles (all males, in a flock), a dozen more Bee-eaters and heard a
single Pied Flycatcher.

Searching for Vultures at the 'Embalse de Almendra'

View from the 'mirador' at the 'Ermita del Castillo',,,

...and looking the other way

And the 'Ermita' itself

But to me more interesting was one of the villages we went
through to reach these places, Bermillo de Sayago, as here we had 13 Griffon
Vultures fly over high and 6 low Red Kites and 4 Egyptian Vultures, at least one
Short-toed Eagle and 14 Common Buzzards, and I wonder if in the village there
may have been a rubbish-tip which was attracting so many
raptors/scavengers.We also had a group
of around 30 Pied Flycatchers together in a field – they must have been a
migration group.

Short-toed Eagle typically perched on a post...

...and the same bird or possibly another in flight...

...and a Red Kite

Back looking for the wolves at about 6-30pm at our
second site, and this time SUCCESS.At
7-20pm, Inés noticed movement in a field beyond a line of pine trees, and
getting the scopes onto the area, 4
Wolves!Two of them gradually moved down
the hill towards us but eventually were hidden by the pines in a valley.Then a third did the same, but the 4th
remained quite a while (and was lost to view for about 20 minutes) but when it
came back into view it had obviously found/hunted something to eat as it could
be seen moving something around and eating.It leisurely moved around and eventually sat down behind some plants and
was not seen again, but the total time watching all four must have been around
50 minutes.We stayed till it got dark
and the full moon had risen quite high, but didn’t hear any baying to the moon!

Once again, searching for Wolves, at site number two - and this time we got them!

And nightfall at the second site

Back in Villardeciervos, to celebrate, we all decided
to have steaks - Cuco had one of Beef, and Inés and I had one each of Red Deer!

As we were there, we had to have one last look for
Wolves, but weren’t too bothered when we didn’t see any! A 7-30 am start with the temperature at -2º,
we stayed till 9-30, but then decided it was time for breakfast and to pack up
and get on our way.

Our home for the last few days

Villardeciervos - Town of the Red Deer (wonderful roast)!

And the other hostal in the village - with the superb restaurant

After breakfast and
a stroll around the very quiet village, we headed on east via the A-52 and then
south on the A-6.Still in the province of Zamora, and as we were so close-by, we
called in at Villafáfila, famous in the winter for the large flocks of wildfowl
(principally Geese) and Cranes.However,
the lakes were totally dry, and the only bird of note was a male Montagu’s
Harrier flying along the side of the road.We had to stop to try to get photos as it was so close, but then had a
brush with the law as a Guardia patrol went by and told us we weren’t allowed
to stop.

Montagu's Harrier seen at the side of the road

Carrying on south, as it was only around 50km off our
route, we called in to La Granja (Segovia) for lunch, and then the Palacio de Riofrio which
is set in 4km of gardens, at the back of which there is one of the largest
breeding zones for Black Vulture in Spain.Here we had 3 Booted Eagle, 15 Griffon
Vultures, 3 Black Vultures, 2 Azure-winged Magpies, 2 Southern Grey Shrikes, a
juvenile Woodchat Shrike, a couple of Red Kites and 20+ Roe Deer.

The gardens of the Palacio de Riofrio

And the Palace itself

While overhead, a Black Vulture

From there on, it was a solid slog back to Los
Belones, noting three Great Bustards in a field en route close to where we’d
seen them flying on our way out, but apart from that, nothing out of the
ordinary, and got back to Los Belones at around 10-30pm.

Apart from the obvious birds and animals, the two bird
species that really stood out were the Common Buzzards and Pied Flycatchers,
just purely on numbers seen.It may just
be that we hit them on prime migration time, but they did seem to be
everywhere.

So in summary, a total of 12 days, and around 4,000km
travelled.We didn’t have time in the
end to cover the alpine birds, but this gives us an excuse for another
trip.With the sea-watching, we could
have hoped for more and better birds, but that’s sea-watching for you, and at
least we did have one good afternoon of seabird passage.We also probably spent more time than we’d
have liked looking for Wolves, but that did give us the excuse to go to other
places we probably wouldn’t otherwise have seen, and we did get the two
emblemic species of Brown Bear and Wolf.

My thanks and gratitude to Cuco who did all the driving
and to Clemente Alvarez Usategui for much of the site information.

Report on the birds of Cabo de Palos, 2009 - 2012

Four day forecast

This blog is an english language blog for people wishing to know about recent bird sightings in the region of Murcia, Spain, and in particular the Cartagena area.

The photographs in it are all taken by the author who holds copyright to them, apart from photos otherwise specifically mentioned.

The author does not claim to be a photographer, only a birdwatcher who likes to take photos of what he sees and share them (this is my way of saying I KNOW none of them would win a photography competition!).

About Me

I moved permanently to Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, from the UK in 1986. I have always been a birdwatcher, although not active for about 15 years from 1990 to 2005. In 2005 I re-discovered the delights of birding, and since then am out most afternoons and weekends of every week.